There is a very funny story (at least if you are a
geek) regarding Iridium which I wanted to chronicle.
Early in 2000 the Iridium satellite company went bankrupt. This was pretty significant considering there were 66 satellites orbiting the earth that no one knew what to do with.
At the time they were planning on de-orbiting these satellites and crashing them into the earth's surface. A lot of people were very upset at the waste of resources this would represent (billions of US dollars).
Here comes the funny part...
Iridium is a base element. It was used by a number of scientists to prove that an asteroid caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
You see Iridium is a *very* heavy element. Normally heavy elements are pulled towards the earth's core (AKA Iron, Gold, Plutonium, etc).
The geological record showed that somewhere between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods a thin layer of Iridium could be found.
This means that this Iridium would have come from some other location (an asteroid).
This is where the Iridium satellites come into play. If these 66 satellites were crashed into the earth's surface around the year 2000, scientists in the future would have a clear geological indication of year 2000.
Why is this funny?
Well... it was a very good foreshadowing of the future plans of the company. I mean the second they named the company Iridium they already sealed their fate.
Also... what are the odds that these satellites would come back to earth :)
ha!
More information is available here.
http://rainbow.ldeo.columbia.edu/courses/v1001/23.html